There were only three games to begin 2010 on Friday, and boy what a start to this new decade it was. The evening began with the New York Knicks knocking off the Atlanta Hawks in OT 112-108. Nate Robinson came off Mike D'Antoni's bench for the first time in one month (14 games). He made 18 of 24 shots and finished with 41 points and 8 assists in 38 minutes of action, including eleven of the Knicks' thirteen overtime points. Keep in mind Atlanta was up 80-67 going into the 4th period before NYC made its charge in front of a stunned Phillips Arena crowd.

In regulation, Atlanta was up 95-91 with 2:27 left as Nate would put up the Knicks' final 8 points, including a lay-up that tied the contest at 99 points a piece with 11.3 seconds remaining. The rest was all Robinson who was greeted after the game by former Hawk Dikembe Mutombo as Mike D'Antoni now has Robinson back in his rotation. "We were kind of like 'Everybody get out of his way'", said D'Antoni whose team is now 14-20. Wilson Chandler grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds and tallied 24 solid points in the winning effort. Atlanta fell to 21-11 despite twenty-point plus games from Joe Johnson (28), Josh Smith (24), and Al Horford (22).

It was -7 degrees Fahrenheit in Minnesota when the Orlando Magic took on the Timberwolves at the Target Center. The Magic were down by two points heading into the final period, but Orlando prevailed 106-94 behind a 33-23 4th quarter performance. Jameer Nelson finished with 16 points and 6 assists as he didn't need Jason Williams (10 points) to bail him out like in the Pacers game. Matt Barnes is getting extremely comfortable in his new starting role as he put up a solid 17-pointer, 11-rebound double-double. Ryan Anderson had somewhat of a rough shooting night, but 16 points and two clutch back-to-back 3-balls to make the game 87-81 helped the Magic pull away for good.

Vince Carter put up 12 points and 6 assists while Rashard Lewis poured in a team-high 21 points. Even though Dwight Howard was in foul trouble tonight, 9 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks helped Coach Stan Van Gundy's squad improve to 24-8. The Magic are in Chicago tonight to try and end the Bulls' 3-game win streak since Tyurs Thomas returned.

Rookie point guard Jonny Flynn was the game-high scorer as he finished the night with 23 points. Kevin Love and Al Jefferson each snagged 10 rebounds for the Wolves. However, Coach Kurt Rambis needed more than 17 and 14 points from the two stud big men. Minnesota is now 7-27 and are in Indiana tonight to take on a Pacers team that has lost 8 straight games.

Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings were dealing with injury woes, but who would've thought that last night's thriller could match the 2 OT matchup these two teams had on December 26th. Already with no Francisco Garcia and Kevin Martin, Tyreke Evans was still sitting due to a sprained ankle. L.A. still was without Ron Artest, who should be 100% free of concussion symptoms by next week.

The Kings were up 64-49 as a horrified Staples Center didn't plan on starting the New Year with a home loss to a hobbled Kings squad. The Lakers stormed back to a 60-44 second half performance. Coach Phil Jackson's team took a 95-93 lead at the 5:30 mark thanks to a 10-0 run. Ime Udoka found himself at the line with 4.8 seconds remaining as the Kings had a 2-point lead. Sadly for Sac-Town, Ime missed both free throws and pathed the way for another miracle Lakers finish. Udoka finished his night with 13 points.

Kobe went into Black Mamba mode from there and capped off his 39-point evening by drilling a very questionable 3-point buzzer beater to give the Lakers the 109-108 win. There are several factors that need to be given full attention. Even though the play was reviewed by the refs to see if it counted, clearly an offensive foul on Kobe could not be reversed as he stepped on Sergio Rodriguez's foot and even pushed the Spaniard to the ground. The other thing to look at was whether he was inbounds or not. Kings Coach Paul Westphal had a great look at Kobe's feet and he didn't seem to be complaining as it appears as if Kobe's left heel isn't down. Had his heel touched the ground, the official watching the play would've whistled the offence.

Bryant seems to be on a greatest hits tour nonetheless. Gasol put up 17 points and 16 boards while Lamar Odom also posted a double-double of his own, 20 points and 10 boards as Odom once again was in the starting lineup for Artest. Andrew Bynum was the only other Laker in double figures with 16 points. L.A. is now 26-6 and host the Dallas Mavericks Sunday night.

Spencer Hawes' new career-high of 30 points was wasted in the loss. Rookie Omri Casspi put up 23 points. Beno Udrih picked up some of Tyreke Evans' slack as he posted 19 points and dished out 13 assists. The Kings are now 14-18 and actually host the Mavericks tonight.